Thursday, August 21, 2008

METRO PASS

So these are images from the Metro Passes I've used this summer to get around Los Angeles. Also, this is the last blog post I will be writing from my desk in the Museum Education Department at the Getty Museum. Oy.

It's a bit nostalgic, I suppose, this post.

Essentially, I want to write about how special these two pieces of laminated, shiny paper are to me. For one, they granted me access to the world within a world that is the greater Los Angeles area. I used them to get to work, mostly, but also to have a lot of fun. And that's why they're special, sentimental objects that I will probably keep for a long time.

If nothing else, this was the summer of the Metro and my love affair with it. Whether it was late night bus rides back from Westwood or Little Tokyo, it was early morning stand-a-thons down Van Nuys and Sepulveda. Because of the bus, i talked to many random strangers, and discovered the wonders of the Taco Truck. Somehow, when I have these cards, I feel unstoppable, geographically. i dont have to worry about cost of gas or driving ability; all I need is time. Time to wait, ride, wait, and probably walk to wherever I'm going. But when i ride the bus, I don't really go, I get taken, swept away, even. If not down the street or across The Valley, then to some far away land populated by strangers and cars. But that's why I love riding the bus as much as I do and why these cards actually mean something to me. You know? My life has been framed and defined, like yours and everyone elses, by my mode of transportation. I can't do anything if I can't get there, and these cards let me get where I want to go... or take me somewhere I was too ignorant to consider worthwhile before. And for that, i appreciate them.

There are bus stops on street corners that I've spent hours at, collectively. And some that I've seen and touched only out of despiration and confusion. But these places are all valuable and special, both because of their relationship to the urban fabric that created them as well as the sentimental value they now hold. So, if I've learned nothing else this summer, it's that not having a car was probably the best decision I have ever made and one that I will not reconsider or live down anytime soon.